


Always Late

by occasionalfics



Series: Always Late [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Comics), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Enhanced Reader, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-14 18:30:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16918080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/occasionalfics/pseuds/occasionalfics
Summary: You’re new to the Avengers, and you’re not sure you belong. But maybe the God of Thunder can help with that.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted @ occasionalfics.tumblr.com January 2018

Somehow, you’d become an Avenger. Or, more accurately, you were still becoming an Avenger.

One day you were living on the beach, using your water manipulation abilities to build a sandcastle, and the next thing you knew, Tony Stark had found you. You were sure you’d be discovered by the X-Men first, but they were a day late and a dollar short. Or however that phrase went.

You didn’t see how your abilities were anything special. All you could do was make water bend to your will - how did that compare to a super soldier, a Gamma radiation-induced Hulk, a tech genius with billions of dollars at his disposal, a literal witch with ethereal powers, actual spies, and generally too many others to list all at once? Especially when they had actual Gods?

You couldn’t even create water. All you could do was play with already-existing water, and normally only with a short burst of power that served you well on a beach. What made Tony Stark think you’d be useful to his team?

But you didn’t have much to lose by joining, even if it meant being useless. If Tony Stark wanted you, why not? You’d moved out to Montauk in the first place because your power had driven your human friends away - either directly or indirectly, but in any case, you were alone. You’d gotten used to it. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, someone wanted you because of your ability.

When you’d first moved into the Avenger’s compound upstate, you’d needed a guide to help you navigate. Tony was always busy, as were most of the original teammates, but you found a quick friend in Sam Wilson. He was always around, always eager to help as long as you weren’t the Winter Soldier (his words, not yours), and always pushing to see what you could do.

You showed him at the pool the first time, because it was the only place you were actually useful. You stood on the diving board, hands out over the chlorinated water, and focused. You took a deep breath in, and the water rose into the shape of a Falcon hovering in midair. Sam clapped and laughed at your choice of iconography, praising you all the way as you climbed down from the diving board.

That was the first moment you knew you’d find your place among the Avengers, one way or another. Sam was the first person to appreciate your ability, though you’d never told him so.

The longer you were around the Avengers, the more you liked most of them. They seemed to like you, too. For the most part.

For some reason - perhaps because he was around the least - Thor didn’t seemed to notice you. You knew he had important Space things to take care of, but the more you got to know everyone else, the more you wanted to know him, too. After all, he was one of the longest running Avengers. He was a mystery to you, partially because he was a literal God and partially because everyone else seemed to like him so much.

He made an announcement one night at dinner that he’d be staying a while. He wasn’t sure how long, but long enough. You figured that this was your chance to get to know him.

It happened at the pool. You were alone, feet dangling in the water as you sat on the edge. You sighed, creating a ripple in the center of the water that echoed across the surface and back. You lifted a pointer finger, and a bubble rose from the water and hovered in place. You rotated it, changed its shape, watched as a tiny cyclone formed without touching the surface of the water below, then you let the whole thing drop.

“That can’t possibly be the whole show,” you heard in that wonderful accent.

You looked across the room, and there he was. Half naked. Or, rather, dressed for a swim, according to Earth attire, anyway. He had a towel slung over one shoulder and a playful smirk on his face.

“Any requests?” you asked, leaning back on one hand.

“Pufferfish,” he said, like he’d been thinking it all along.

You furrowed your brows, but reached out and conjured the shape of a pufferfish anyway. The spines were hard to see, but by the look on his face, you knew he trusted your vision.

“Why a pufferfish?” you asked.

He shrugged, came around the pool, and sat on the edge beside you. “They’re my favorite. When they just…” He blew his cheeks out and burst his fingers in an exaggeration of an explosion. “It’s so funny!”

You balled your conjuring hand into a fist and watched the pufferfish contract. “I guess it is,” you said, kicking some water up.

“So this is what you do?” Thor asked. “You sit at the pool and make shapes?” He glanced at you, still smiling. Something in his manner made his question sound…not condescending. Curious was a better word.

You shrugged. “It’s what I did before, too. Only then, I was nice and tan on the beach.”

He chuckled. “That sounds quite nice.”

“It was fine,” you said. “The beach I lived at wasn’t actually sunny most of the year. Half the time, it was too cold to even go swimming.”

“That sounds like the opposite of nice.” He threw his towel behind him and pushed off from the wall. “Thankfully, Stark keeps this place heated all year ‘round!” He backed away, using his arms to propel him to the other side of the pool. But he never looked away from you.

You couldn’t help but smile. His smirk was adorable, and his demeanor was so sunny and warm, it felt like he was wrapping a giant blanket around you in the dead of winter. But you kept that part to yourself.

“You should come in,” he said. “It’s lovely in here.”

You chuckled lightly. “I bet it is.” The pool was Olympic grade, because of course it was. Tony Stark would accept nothing less, you’d realized.

“You never told me your name, by the way,” he said, leaning his body forward to swim back toward you.

_Is the God of Thunder flirting with me right now?_ you wondered. You shrugged. “Tony didn’t say anything? Or Sam?” you asked. You were sure Sam would’ve mentioned you at least once. He always talked about the Falcon you conjured early on.

“Sure they did,” he said, bobbing his head low enough under the water that all that remained dry were his eye, eyepatch, and short air. When he pushed himself back up, he said, “But you never told me.”

_Yes. He is definitely flirting._

You felt your face heat up, and to try to hide the redness you knew was creeping up, you decided to take your shirt off. Because that made sense. You were wearing a bikini beneath your clothes, as you did most days. Anyone in the compound knew they could probably find you by the pool at any given moment.

You threw your shirt by his towel, then removed your shorts and put them aside, too. When you slipped into the water, you shut your eyes. Anytime you entered a body of water, you felt a sudden surge of power. It was exhilarating and overwhelming, and you let it happen the same way every time. After the initial surge passed, you looked at Thor.

“(Y/N),” you said.

He came close to you and stood. His full height, you realized, was intimidating. He overshadowed you by at least a foot and a half, but his face remained kind. He held a hand out to you and said, “Thor Odinson, God of Thunder. Pleasure to meet you, (Y/N).”

You shook his hand, feeling another surge of something the second your skin made contact. Neither of you said anything until he dropped back into the water.

“You’ve been here a while, right?” he asked, his arms spread out, moving back and forth below the surface.

You nodded. “Almost six months, I guess.”

“And you like it?” he asked.

“Sure,” you said. “Beats sitting alone in Montauk.”

He paused then, his eyes widening just enough for you to notice. “Alone?” he asked.

You shrugged. “Humans don’t always react well to…what I can do, I guess. Before I met Tony, it was just easier to live alone than it was to have to explain myself to everyone.”

“What you do doesn’t…seem dangerous,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“Sure, says the guy that wields literal lightning,” you mumbled with a smirk. “It’s one thing when you’re a God from outer space and another when you’re some weird girl from a small town.”

“I don’t see how that makes sense,” he said, pushing himself up just a bit. His shoulders lined up with the waving surface of the water. You tried not to focus on them when he said, “I’ll never understand how humans can trust an outsider like me over one of their own.”

You gave him another shrug. “Ask the X-Men about that one,” you said. Then you turned and dove toward the deep end of the pool.

\--

The longer you lived on the compound, the more you wondered what your role in the whole deal was. No one had powers like you. Most of them had actual tactical abilities, but you…could make shapes with water in the pool if you thought really hard.

You tried to talk to Tony about it, but he was always busy. Sam kept reassuring you that there was a reason you’d been recruited for the Avengers, not the X-Men. The problem was that your powers seemed to come from you, rather than some external source.

The second time you were alone with Thor, he told you that that didn’t seem to matter.

“My powers are the same,” he said. You were the last two in the cafeteria, probably because most of your teammates had missions to get ready for. Somehow, Thor’d been left out of those plans. “They’re a part of me, rather than something that happened to me.”

“Yeah, but you’re not from here,” you said, hating that that kept coming up between you. “Earth or…Midgard or…whatever you want to call it, it’s full of people without abilities.”

He shrugged. “So is Asgard. And most of the Universe.” He pushed his plate away and leaned on his elbows. “Midgardians aren’t that close minded.” He paused, but you weren’t sure why. After a few seconds, he finished with, “Surely.”

You chuckled. “You’d be surprised,” you said. “I had some friends back home that tried to understand. Some of them thought I was a mutant like that Magnet guy. Some thought I was a villain like the magnet guy, too.”

“Magnet guy,” he said, suddenly laughing. “Now that’s one I haven’t heard before!”

You couldn’t help but smile with him. When Thor laughed, his voice reverberated around whatever room he was in. The world got brighter. Watching him enjoy literally anything was like watching a Golden Retriever play fetch. Only it was better than that.

When he calmed down enough, he sighed and asked, “What’s this fixation on the X-Men, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I dunno,” you said with a shrug. “I just… I guess, sometimes, I feel more like one of them than an Avenger. Probably because I’ve never been on a mission.”

“Steve’s pushed for you,” he said, taking you by surprise.

Captain America was another Avenger you were convinced had no idea you were around. He, like many of the original members of the team, was always busy planning and strategizing.

“Sam speaks highly of you. They believe you belong here.” Thor sat back in his seat. “I do, too.”

“You hardly know me,” you said quietly. You hadn’t meant it to be mean or accusatory. But it was the truth.

“Maybe so,” he said. “But I’ve seen what you can do. And I trust Sam. We both think you’re capable of more.”

You stared at him for a bit. You lost track of how many seconds ticked by. You were totally in your head, wondering what Sam had said about you and how much Thor could possibly know or feel. He was basing his opinion off of a short conversation in the pool, you thought. That couldn’t possibly be enough - someone on the team had to know that, otherwise you would’ve been sent out with a group on a mission by then.

“One day,” he said, “you’ll get what you’re looking for.”

The problem, though you didn’t tell him, was that you weren’t quite sure what that was.

\--

Thor took it upon himself to try to train you. You were never sure exactly what for, but you followed his instruction. You spent a lot of time alone…together…in the pool, so you weren’t going to complain.

Turns out, you liked training a lot. He gave you things to focus on, goals to reach, and something of a purpose while you waited around the compound for something more to do. Also…you really liked Thor. Like as a person, not just this authoritative, heroic figure who came from Space.

He was kind. Gentle, even, despite how big and intimidating he could look. He was funny, understanding, talkative… He quickly became your friend. At least you had two at that point.

Sam caught on before anyone else, but of course he did. Other than Thor, he spent the most time with you.

You went out one night with a big group, but you, Sam, Thor, and Natasha had ended up at some club a few blocks away from most of the group. Being Avengers (or in your case, a friend of the Avengers), you were immediately given a VIP booth on the second floor of the building. You and Sam made it upstairs first, since Thor and Natasha kept getting stopped by fans of the team downstairs.

“This doesn’t bother you?” you asked Sam as you slid into the booth next to him.

He shrugged. “I guess, but it’s always kinda like this. If you’re not one of the Big Six, but one of them is around, no one notices.”

You rolled your eyes as a waitress came over. Sam ordered you drinks, then sat back after the waitress left.

“So,” he said, throwing his arms across the back of the sofa. “Are you gonna make a move on the big guy, or what?”

You stared at him. “I have no clue what you’re talking about,” you said, suddenly interested in the dirt under your fingernails.

He laughed. “Yeah you do,” he said, knocking the side of your arm with a few of his fingers. “Y’all’ve been getting real cozy in those ‘training sessions’.”

“He’s teaching me stuff,” you said, holding yourself back from rolling your eyes at yourself.

“Stuff like what?” Sam asked, smirking too wide for your enjoyment.

“Private stuff, Sam.”

He huffed, then shrugged. You felt bad, knowing that Sam was pulling for you. He was just teasing, and there you were, reacting like a child.

But you didn’t have time to apologize. Thor and Nat finally made it to the booth, so you slid closer to Sam to let them in.

“Please tell me you ordered a Whiskey sour, Wilson,” Nat sad in a flat tone.

Sam nodded. “Did indeed.”

They went back and forth like that for a bit, but you hardly noticed. You tried not to focus on how good Thor looked that night. He had on a loose blazer, tailored jeans, and a fitted baby blue shirt that made the color in his eyes pop. And one of his arms had somehow been perched behind you. Sam’s teasing played over in your head until you shook away it to focus.

“You okay?” Sam asked.

You nodded as the waitress came back with your drinks. The second she had yours on the table between you and Nat, you picked the glass up and downed half of it in one go.

You listened as the three of them talked, sipping along until your glass was empty. Another came to replace it not too long after, and then another and another. You lost track after a while.

“You sure you’re okay, (Y/N)?” Sam asked in the middle of some story Nat was telling.

You tried to nod, but your body was swaying now, not because you couldn’t sit straight, but because the music from the floor below was pounding. You pushed yourself up slowly, smoothed your dress out, put your glass down, and told them, “I’m going to dance.”

You headed for the stairs but only made it down two of them before you tripped. You gripped onto the handrail to steady yourself, then almost immediately felt a set of warm, huge hands on your back.

“Easy there,” Thor said, just loud enough for you to hear. “Let me come with you.”

You didn’t say no. You didn’t shrug him off, even though at least some part of you wanted to. But you knew it was the part that wanted to deny Sam’s claims. You weren’t making a move on Thor. He didn’t like you like that, you were sure. He was a friend, and besides, wasn’t he still…somewhat involved with that genius scientist lady from New Mexico? You couldn’t compete with that…not that you needed to.

You forced yourself to breathe and look ahead as you made it down to the dance floor. Thor’s hands hadn’t fully left your shoulders. He basically led you from behind, gently pushing you into the middle of the crowd. He towered over most of the other dancers, which you only noticed when he’d stopped and helped you turn slowly.

As usual, he was smiling at you. _Damn it, Sam,_ you thought. He’d put the seed in your head and it had already taken root. You liked looking at Thor too much for someone that was just his friend. But you still found it hard to return the smile when you reminded yourself of the Scientist in New Mexico. And the fact that Thor was a literal God.

Even so, he danced with you. He never overstepped boundaries, didn’t even put his hands on you except to twirl you around whenever you prompted it first. Or whenever your shoe hit the floor at an odd angle and you tumbled forward, which prompted a blush to rise in your face every time. You hoped the room was dark enough that he wouldn’t notice, partially because he never said anything about it or laughed at you for it.

After a while, you were dancing with drooped arms and mostly shut eyes. Thor tugged on one of your arms, bringing you to the staircase. “Tired?” he asked.

You nodded, unable to answer. You’d drank too much too quickly, and then had expended your energy too fast. He didn’t seem to mind too much, though. Before you knew what was happening, he had one arm behind your shoulders and the other behind your knees, and he lifted you like you were nothing - like you were an easy glass of water to bring to his lips. You leaned into him as he brought you upstairs and put you on the couch beside Sam, then sat next to you.

You didn’t even notice that Nat was missing. You leaned over sideways, slowly as to not worry the men beside you, and let your head fall on Sam’s lap. You spread out, draping your feet across Thor. Neither man said anything.

“I’m sorry Sammy,” you said, putting your hands together under your head.

He laughed. “For what?”

“For chasing away all your lady friends,” you said.

“You didn’t do that,” he said. You felt his hand on your shoulder a second later, then he squeezed lightly.

“Maybe not,” you said. “But I was an asshole earlier, and I didn’t mean to be. You’re a good friend.” With the hand directly below your face, palm aimed at Sam’s knee, you tapped him three times before snuggling back into fetal position.

You couldn’t be sure, but you thought you heard Thor say something to Sam then. You were half asleep at that point, but you thought you heard him say, “For someone with an affinity for water, I’m surprised at how much of a lightweight (Y/N) is.”


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’ve got real feelings developing and it’s becoming a problem. It’s really hard to deal with the fact that you’re a mortal, especially when you haven’t figured out what your place on the Avengers is, exactly. Also, Thor brings in a new friend!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted @ occasionalfics.tumblr.com in January 2018

Things continued like this for a while: You caught Thor flirting with you a few times, but then…he flirted with a lot of people. You told yourself not to be jealous. He didn’t belong to you. He was friendly, and he seemed to like building other people up as much as he liked tearing them down in a nasty game of Poker.

That’s thanks in large part to Sam, who usually cleaned everyone out whenever they played. You sat back and watched, knowing that, with nothing to lose, you’d rack up a decent debt. It just didn’t seem like an attractive pursuit, even if everyone was part of a team.

But you realized, somewhere in the middle of everything, that Thor had become your friend. A real friend, like Sam, not just another Avenger that nodded whenever you were in their vicinity but otherwise didn’t take time to get to know you. You could’ve taken your own time to do that, but having two friends was a good start.

You were swimming one day - not even practicing your manipulation, you were literally just swimming - when Tony, Rhodey, and Thor showed up.

“You normally wait until everyone else is out to take a dip?” Tony asked.

He’d been the one to find you, alone on the beach doing exactly what you were doing then. You shrugged. “Does that surprise you?”

He gave you a flat look, but not a disappointed one, then nodded. “Right,” he said. “Point Break here said you had something to show us?” He pointed to Thor.

“I do?” you asked, scrunching your face in confusion.

Rhodey stepped forward. He was another one you hardly knew, even after almost nine months with the team. It seemed like he cleaned up messes more often than he made them, but in any case, you knew he was more useful in the way of organizing strategies and rallying troops than most of the other Avengers.

And yet, he was standing at the end of the pool, looking at you as he said, “We’re working on something, and we’d like to have an idea of what we’re developing it for.”

You looked at all three men, one at a time. “That’s…oddly vague.”

Tony sighed. “Do your thing, Ariel.”

You rolled your eyes at the name. Of course he’d call you that. Of course. Point Break. Legolas. Now Ariel, just for you.

“Can I ask why _you_ need me to?” you asked. “You saw it first hand. Actually, Rhodey’s the only one that hasn’t.”

“That’s why we’d like a demonstration,” Rhodey responded.

You didn’t know why you were giving them such a hard time. It wasn’t like you kept your ability a secret. You just…didn’t really talk about it unless someone asked. Tony had asked when he’d found you on the beach, and Thor’d asked the first time you’d met him personally. So you nodded, took a few steps back, and lifted your hands. You focused on lifting a ball, then watched as one rose. It shifted, lost some mass as it hung, and changed shape. You moved your fingers as if you were cutting into the water, though it was suspended a few feet away from you. As water fell back into the pool, the shape of the thing became clearer.

“Funny,” Tony said, somewhat unimpressed.

Two feet above the surface of the pool, a small mermaid perched and swam through the air. The only sound it made was that of water smacking against itself, but when you pushed your arms out, it swam over to the men at the end of the pool.

“Is it useful?” Rhodey asked as the mermaid swam around him.

You shrugged. “Probably not, but it’s cute.” You smirked at them, still using your hands to guide the mermaid. You pushed it toward Thor, let it hover over his shoulder, then plopped it down. It brought a small hand to its face and shrugged as if it were giggling, but it still made no sound.

“Thank you,” Rhodey said.

For a split second, which was enough, your focus broke. The mermaid broke apart, soaking Thor’s faded red t-shirt. You brought your hands to your mouth and giggled. “Sorry!” you called.

He shook his head, rolled his eyes, and laughed all the same. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you meant to do that,” he said before reaching for the hem of his shirt, lifting it quickly, and throwing it’s soaked cotton over one shoulder.

You tried - hard - not to stare, forcing a smirk before submerging yourself. It wasn’t fair. Thor was too nice, _too funny,_ and at the moment, _far too hot._ Whenever you got into situations like this, you cursed Sam Wilson for having put the thought in your head in the first place.

\--

Something big was coming. Tony and Rhodey were scrambling to get whatever it was they were working on for you done before this…big…ominous thing. You didn’t know what it was, just that everyone was freaking out over it.

Honestly, you were kind of tired of not knowing anything. You tried going to Sam for information, but he said he had his hands tied. All he could tell you was that, if the thing Tony and Rhodey were making wasn’t done in time, you’d be stuck in the compound until the threat was taken care of. You definitely didn’t like that answer.

Since you couldn’t get much from Sam, you went to Thor. Or rather, he came to you. In the pool. Again. It was quickly becoming your rendezvous spot, whether or not you meant for it to be.

“I hate feeling this useless,” you said, staring at the shimmering image of your legs under the water.

“You’re not,” he said, but all that did was earn him a glare.

“I’ve been sitting here for the better part of a year with nothing to do but…play with pool water. I’ve done nothing to earn my spot on the Avengers. I don’t really even belong here.” You kicked some water away, watched the droplets cause ripples a few feet across the pool.

“Don’t say that,” he said, putting his hand over yours.

You stopped - stopped breathing, stopped thinking, stopped everything. People only did that - put hands over other people’s hands - when they had genuine feelings for the other person. You were convinced of it. But you didn’t dare look at him. It was too much. He was too much. His thing with Jane the Scientist was too much. He’d never even mentioned her - Sam had told you her name - but still, you found it hard to think about.

“You still think you should be with the X-Men,” he said.

“Clearly I’m a mutant, not an Avenger.” You kept swinging your legs because it was the only movement you could manage. You shut your eyes, unsure of whether or not it was because you could feel tears coming on.

You heard Thor sigh. “Sometimes I don’t belong, either,” he said quietly.

You glared at him again. There was no way he could identify with how much of an outsider you felt like. Sure, he was from Space…Asgard. Whatever. But he was one of the Big Six, as far as you were concerned. He was an original Avenger, and the only one to take the time to get to know you. “Yeah, right,” you mumbled before pulling your legs out of the water. You bent them and removed your hand from beneath his to wrap both of your arms around your shins.

“Hey,” he said just as quietly. “Think about it. Everyone I’ve worked with has been self-made. Or…or they came from nothing and became something.”

“Poor little God,” you said. You hadn’t meant to sound so bitter, but you couldn’t take the words or tone back now that you’d spoken.

Thor seemed to ignore the acrid tone. “Steve sacrificed himself for his friends and his country. Tony’s maintained an empire and molded himself into a hero. Natasha and Clint worked their way up in the ranks of SHIELD when it existed. Bruce’s used his curse to do good. And who was I when I arrived on Earth the first time? An exiled, arrogant, petulant child. I had the universe at my fingertips simply by virtue of being a son of Odin, and it took losing it all for me to learn how to truly be worthy of it all.”

You took a second, then glanced at him through slitted eyes. “But you still fit in much faster than…than this,” you said. “It’s taken more than nine months for me to do absolutely nothing to learn my lesson or even earn my keep.”

“You’ve done more than you know,” he said, barely a whisper. He stared at you, and you stared back, unsure of what to say.

You couldn’t take it anymore. You couldn’t deal with not knowing anything about this Jane the Scientist. You wanted desperately not to be jealous of her, but you also didn’t want to get between them. Somehow you’d convinced yourself that there was still a _thing_ going on with her and Thor, even though he’d never mentioned her. You cleared your throat and said, “Tell me about the woman in New Mexico.”

His eyes widened, not out of fear, but surprise. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, and you let him.

“Jane…” he said just above a whisper. “You want to know about Jane Foster?”

You nodded.

“Very well,” he said. “Jane was…my friend, I suppose. A good friend. A great friend, actually. A lot like you.”

“Isn’t she an astrophysicist or something?” you asked.

He smiled and chuckled. His eyes showed how fond his memories of her were. You didn’t know how to react to that.

_God damn it, Sam_ you thought. This was all his fault.

“She was. Is.”

“I’m not that smart.”

“Not many people are,” he said. “But she has an open and compassionate heart like you do. She cares deeply for the people she surrounds herself with, like you do.”

You wished he’d stop making the connections. Maybe he thought they were flattering, but they just made you feel like you were his second choice, like you were _similar enough_ that he could settle for you if he couldn’t have her.

But he would never do that…would he? You forced yourself to keep your eyes open, digging your nails into your arms to keep a hold on your emotions. “She was more than your friend,” you said. When he rose an eyebrow in question at you, you shrugged and said, “Sam talks.”

He chuckled again. “Of course he does.” He took a second, then nodded. “She was more than my friend, yes. I cared very much for her. I still care, though…”

You waited, but he didn’t go on. He looked out across the pool, and your heart sank. He couldn’t admit that he was over her, so he couldn’t be completely over Jane Foster, genius astrophysicist. You were just some…water bender, for lack of a better term. You’d lived alone for too long, didn’t have a place among his team, and were fooling yourself to think that someone like Thor could ever like - or dare say, love - someone like you.

“I need a shower,” you said, standing quickly to avoid questions.

He watched you get up and leave, but didn’t make a move to stop you. You couldn’t stop a few hot tears from falling as you left the pool area, knowing you’d never compare to Genius Jane Foster. You told yourself it was the chlorine, even though hadn’t actually gotten in the pool that day.

\--

The thing Tony and Rhodey were working on was some kind of…conductor. That’s what they kept calling it, but you weren’t sure _what_ it conducted. All you knew was that they met you in the pool one night and handed you a pair of fingerless gloves, which you slipped on without much of an issue.

“What now?” you asked.

“Do your thing, Little Mermaid,” Tony said.

You weren’t sure this nickname was better than straight up calling you Ariel, but you didn’t say anything to it. You turned to the pool, lifted your hands, and focused on bringing a ball of water above the surface.

It happened quicker than you remembered ever having done before. The ball you pulled up was bigger than normal. It actually looked like the contents of the pool had dwindled. You watched the ball hover and rotate, then looked at Tony.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” you asked.

“See if you can start a cyclone,” Rhodey said.

You stared at him for a second, then turned back to the ball. You thought of tornadoes and cyclones, ones you’d seen during hurricane season, even though you lived in New York. You remembered a few off the Jersey shore, which you hadn’t been to since you were a child. You thought of its power, turning and twisting and moving air and water in one circular motion. The ball twisted, elongated, and spread into the very thing you pictured in your head, touching the surface of the water below it to suck more up. The cyclone grew and slowly started to move toward the end of the pool where the three of you stood.

Tony gave off a few impressed noises. Rhodey stayed silent. When the cyclone came close, you balled your hands into fists, and the cyclone exploded. The water fell back into the pool, and suddenly your hands were hot. Or rather, the gloves were hot.

“You ever done something like that before?” Tony asked, holding his hands out to you.

You removed the gloves and shook your head. “I’ve never made something that big.”

He smiled, but some part of it seemed disingenuine. “That’s because you never had me helping you before,” he said.

You hoped he hadn’t meant to sound as pretentious and self-righteous as he did. You rolled your eyes just as Rhodey said, “He means us.”

You nodded and looked back at Tony. “They heat up too quickly. I’ll never be able to use them in combat like that,” you said, pointing to the gloves that were now in his hands.

“So they do,” he mumbled, then turned to Rhodey. “We’ve got more work to do.”

They nodded at you, and Rhodey congratulated you, then they turned to leave. You stared at the pool for a moment, then called out for them to wait. When you pivoted, you saw that they’d listened.

“Will they be ready?” you asked. “For whatever it is that’s coming?”

Tony kept eye contact with you and shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe.”

“I want to do something,” you said. “I’ve been sitting around here for too long without _something_ to do, Tony.”

He smiled another one of his Tony Stank smiles and nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered. “We all do.”

You didn’t know what he meant, exactly, but you tried not to think too much about it. “Just…if I can help, in any way, let me know. Please.”

Rhodey looked at Tony, who nodded again before turning around and leaving. Rhodey followed him out, and you watched them go.

\--

The Big Bad was coming. That was what you were calling it. You still didn’t know what it was, or if you’d even get to go fight it with the team. Any team. You’d learn to pilot a damn ship at this point, just to get out of the compound.

But Sam, Tony, and even Rhodey insisted on keeping you safe. If your conducting gloves (or whatever they’d end up being called) couldn’t be finished before it came, you’d be stuck in the compound. You promised not to go sneaking off, to not get yourself in trouble or hurt.

_Hey_ , you told yourself, _at least they care._

But with everything you were feeling about Thor, you just wanted some release. Even if it meant going off to battle, focusing on fighting and defending, you wanted something to take your mind off of him. He was everywhere suddenly. So was what you imagined was the image of one Jane Foster. You hated that she followed him everywhere - you wanted to like her, or at the very least, tolerate the idea of her. If you could conjure a single positive thought about her, that meant that you could just be Thor’s friend and you’d be okay with it. You just had to convince yourself that she wasn’t your competition because she wasn’t even around.

But all the confusion around the compound made that hard. Half the time you told yourself you’d clung to him because he’d shown you so much more intimate kindness and understanding than anyone else in the last few years. Even more than Sam. But the other half of the time, you couldn’t deny that you’d developed feelings - real, heavy, incredible feelings - for the God of Thunder.

Everything got…weirder when his friend from Space showed up.

She had light tan skin, long, dark hair tied up tight, and she wore a full suit of white armor. She brandished a huge, intimidating sword, and wore painted white marks on her face and arms. Thor greeted her like a hero, though no one else seemed to know who she was.

“(Y/N)!” he called when she arrived.

You looked across the main lobby of the compound, sighed, and went to them. Your eyes widened at the look of the woman, but at least you weren’t immediately jealous of her.

“This is Brünnhilde,” Thor said, gesturing widely to the woman. “She’s a Valkyrie.”

“The last one,” she said with a smirk.

You weren’t sure what any of that meant, or how you were supposed to react. You forced a smile and held out your hand. “Nice to meet you,” you said.

She shook your hand, then took a step toward you, a mischievous smile on her face the whole time. “Odinson here’s told me all about you,” she said. “You’re the Water Wielder.”

“I, um,” you stumbled. You tried to take your hand back, but couldn’t. Brünnhilde held you still. “I wouldn’t call it that.”

“Val, I think you’re scaring my friend,” Thor said.

“Val?” you asked.

“I’m the last Valkyrie,” she said. “For the time being.” She gave you a once-over as if she was sizing you up. “My friends are allowed to call me Val.”

You hesitated, still unable to pull yourself from her. Some part of you didn’t want to, but you couldn’t say why. “Well,” you said. “It’s, um…nice to meet you?”

“You said that already,” she whispered, angling her face toward you. You could see the playful spark in her eyes that sent shivers down your spine and a blush up your neck.

“Val,” Thor said. “Take it easy.”

She finally let go of you, but not without a click of her tongue and another once-over. “Why don’t you show me around, Odinson?” she asked, slowly looking from you to Thor.

Thor nodded. “Would you like to join us?” he asked you.

You glanced at him, then at Val, then back. Until your gloves were ready, you had nothing else to do. So you nodded, knowing you missed normal hanging out with Thor at least a little bit.

Thor lead the way for the most part. You knew the layout of the compound somewhat better, but that was due to the fact that you hardly ever left it. Still, you let him tell Val everything. You watched the way she walked, the way she interacted with Thor and the other Avengers. You knew she was one of them, even if she’d never been to Midgard before. She was a hero worthy of her suit of armor.

You tried not to feel self conscious about that. You reminded yourself that Sam believed in you, pulled for you. Steve Rogers believed you had potential, from what you heard. Tony and Rhodey were doing what they could to make sure you could do whatever you could against the Big Bad. And Thor, who’s opinion you held in the highest regard, had taken every opportunity to build you up. You reminded yourself that he could regard both you and Val in high esteem at the same time, for the same thing, even if you were differently situated.

Funny how you couldn’t say the same for you and Jane Foster.

When you came to the pool, Thor started telling Val all about you. He bragged that you could do certain things, things you’d never done at all, let alone in front of him before. Still, you let him talk. It made you warm, brought you back to the moment, and made Val’s sly smile easier to swallow.

You had a hard time distinguishing whether or not you wanted her esteem. She was beautiful, undoubtedly, but hard to read. And scary in an intimidating way. She was a God, but so was Thor.

“Show me,” she said when Thor had finished telling her about the mermaid incident. When you hesitated, she nodded toward the pool.

You took a step forward, focused with your arms stretched out, and conjured enough water to create a pegasus. For some reason, the mythical animal felt right with Val looking on. It must’ve been right, too, because she laughed and clapped as the pegasus flew around her. When it dunk itself back into the water, she put an arm across your shoulders and said, “That’s wonderful! With the right training, I think you could prove to be a formidable warrior. Maybe even a Valkyrie.”

You shook your head. “I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t think so. I just…make shapes.”

“For now,” she said. “Odinson says the Iron Man is making something to enhance your ability.”

You looked at Thor before nodding. “Maybe. I don’t know what it’ll do, really.”

Val looked at Thor as well. “You were right,” she said with a chuckle. “She’s full of doubt.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk about me like I wasn’t right here,” you said, unaware of where this sudden burst had come from.

Val looked back at you, laughed again, then said, “Maybe not entirely full of doubt. There’s a fire in there, too.”

That didn’t make sense, given your power dealt with water, but you let her have it. You weren’t sure what else to do.

“Now,” she said. “Where can one get a nice pale ale around here?”


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Bad is coming. Whatever it is, it’ll change everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously posted @ occasionalfics.tumblr.com in January 2018

You warmed to Val not too long after her arrival. She was fun and flirtatious, and she eased your tensions about Thor without even trying. Maybe you were using her as a buffer without realizing it, but with her around, it was easy to forget about Jane Foster.

Val trained for the Big Bad day and night. Thor took to training as well. Sam trained, but not quite as hard. You were, once again, lost on what to do with yourself. There were a few times you got caught peeking into the training rooms, mostly to try and get a peek of Thor using his lightning ability. Otherwise, you spent a lot of lonely days in the pool, swimming laps more than practicing manipulation. You’d read somewhere that a quiet swim as part of a daily routine was good for the mind.

But swimming didn’t help the day the Big Bad came. Tony and Rhodey hadn’t worked the kinks out of your gloves, so you watched your friends gear up, load up, and board jets. Val and conjured an actual pegasus somehow, but you tried not to question it too much. She was magical, after all.

You hugged Sam tight before he boarded a jet with Steve. “You better come back to me, you hear?” You squeezed around him tight, trying hard not to cry.

He squeezed back and nodded. “I do. I will. Steve’s got my back. You don’t gotta worry.”

“Of course I do,” you whispered. “You’re my best friend, Sam Wilson.”

“One of ‘em, anyway,” he said with a light hearted chuckle.

You smiled with your face pressed sideways against his shoulder. He’d always be Sam Wilson, and you were grateful for that. Still, you squeezed tighter for a second, then let him go. “Come home, Sam.” You almost told him you didn’t know who you were without him, but you thought it would be too much.

He nodded, then gave you a salute, which you reciprocated. “Don’t go getting yourself into trouble, (Y/N). I mean it,” he said.

“I won’t,” you said with a nod back. You meant it.

He smiled at you, then turned to the jet and boarded. You watched him go until you couldn’t see him anymore, then went to find the ship Thor was boarding.

He was with Bruce Banner, Val grooming her pegasus just a few feet away. When they saw you approaching, Bruce nodded, then dipped into the jet behind them. Thor gave you his full attention, and you bit your lip. You stepped close to him, wrapped him up in your arms as much as you could, and held him tighter to you than you’d held Sam.

“You better come back to me, too,” you whispered, half-hoping he wouldn’t hear.

But of course he did. “You don’t have to worry about me,” he said. “The weather seems to be working to my advantage today.”

You looked around his shoulder and out the opening of the hangar. He was right. The sky was dark and heavy with precipitation. Thunder clapped just barely over the din of lights and jet engines gearing up.

Still, you held onto Thor and turned your head toward his ear. There was so much you wanted to say and not nearly enough time to say it. “Just don’t die out there, Thor.”

His arms around you were warm, comforting, and protective. You tried to memorize the way they held you. You breathed him in and thought of firepits, the sun, and rain. It didn’t make total sense, but you didn’t question it. You just wanted something to remember him by, just in case…

“I promise I’ll come back to you,” he said, then he placed the side of his face against the top of your forehead. It was a form of a kiss, just not the one you were silently hoping for.

Over his shoulder, you saw Bruce come back down the stairs leading into the jet. Engines all around you fired up. Jets moved to the door of the hangar. You had to let go of Thor.

You couldn’t though. It hurt too much to think of it. But you had to.

You took a deep breath, one last whiff of his essence, and pulled back. “You have to go,” you said, somewhat as a question, but mostly as it was meant to be said.

He nodded, let you go slowly, and didn’t look away from you until he had to turn to climb the steps into the jet. He hesitated for a moment, waved, and tried to smile at you before boarded, but it did nothing to calm your nerves. Still, you waved back, then watched as the jets began to take off. You stayed in the hangar until his jet had moved, taken off, and the doors had shut.

\--

You did whatever you could to distract yourself. It was like being in Montauk again, only this time, you got to roam something bigger than a one-room cabin.

You tried swimming, but that only kept your mind clear for so long. Plus, it turned out that you weren’t overly fond of feeling pruny.

You tried watching movies in the theater - because of course a compound which Tony Stark had designed had to have a theater in it - but that only left you in a dark room with empty popcorn buckets, totally alone.

You tried eating, but the cafeteria was too big for just you.

You ran into Pepper Potts, but she was just as anxious as you were. Her normally tailored look had been shed in favor of a plain tank top, jean shorts, and a tight ponytail. She looked like she might be going to the supermarket, except for the extra dark circles below her eyes. After a bit, she went off to find some work to do. You thought about going with her and offering your services in any way you could, but that didn’t seem like much fun.

Although, to be fair, fun wasn’t really what you were looking for. You wanted a distraction. You suddenly wanted to think of Jane Foster, to feel anything other than an overwhelming sense of dread.

The worst part of it all was that you still didn’t know what the Big Bad was. It couldn’t possibly have been Thanos again. Your mind raced with every possible problem this could be, and most of them ended badly. You tried to turn the thoughts off with a nap, but even that didn’t work. You couldn’t keep your eyes closed, so you tossed and turned in bed until you couldn’t stand it anymore, but you had nothing left to try and nowhere to go.

And then, right when you were ready to start pulling your hair out one strand at a time, an alarm went off. Without waiting to figure out where it was coming from, you ran to the hangar. Your body pulsed as your heart sped up. You and Pepper Potts made it to the hangar together, but ended up going in opposite directions once inside.

Avengers disembarked, some only scratched, others on stretchers or in the arms of bigger, stronger teammates. The Hulk dragged himself into the lobby of the compound before keeling over and shrinking back to Bruce Banner.

You caught sight of Val’s pegasus floating into the hangar. Val was barely hanging on, her eyes fighting to stay open. You rushed to her, and soon found Steve on the other side of the pegasus, helping you get Val down gently.

“I’ve got her,” he told you when she leaned against his broad shoulders. “Go see who else needs help.”

You nodded and watched him carry her away. You turned to the pegasus, remembered that, in Greek Mythology, Poseidon was the father of horses, and tried your best to calm the beast. It reard and fought as you shushed it, but you must’ve found the right pitch or something because, eventually, it calmed. Its motions slowed, as did it’s breathing, and then it stepped forward and put its forehead against yours.

You sighed against the pegasus for a moment, then rose a hand and petted it. “Thank you for keeping her safe,” you said. It whinnied in response, then pushed you back as if it knew you meant to move on.

You turned to face chaos. You could hardly believe what you were seeing, even as you walked among it. There were no words. More and more bodies came off jets, bloodied and unmoving. Other Avengers were yelling orders to take the wounded to the infirmary. One group was unloading jets as quickly as they could, and another was treating minor wounds on site.

Then you noticed Sam. He was mostly untouched, thankfully. But he and Rhodey were carrying a long stretcher, and you could just make out Thor’s sandy hair and metal eyepatch as they twisted around everyone.

You ran. You weren’t even thinking. You were hardly breathing. You feared the worst, that your God of Thunder was dead, and that you’d never even told him how you felt. Your heart broke as you neared them.

You grabbed onto Sam, who nearly lost his grip on the stretcher.

“Help us get him stable,” he yelled.

You nodded, still not thinking, but at least now you had some direction. You went around Rhodey, opening doors and making sure corridors were cleared so they could more easily make their way to the infirmary. You had enough sense to wait until they found Val in a room with an extra bed before asking questions.

You helped them get Thor on the empty bed, then went to find an unoccupied medic. You’d never been happier to have Tony Stark as a sort of benefactor then you were at that moment, because there seemed to be full hospital staff on hand. You were able to grab a doctor before too long, then went back to the room where Sam and Rhodey were waiting.

You listened as they told the doctor what had happened. It was too much to bear, but you knew you had to. You leaned against the doorway as Rhodey talked about the invasion - another one in the middle of Manhattan.

“It wasn’t as bad as Thanos,” he said, calming you only to a certain extent. “But it was bad.”

“Are they gonna make it?” you asked, refusing to look anywhere but at the linoleum floor.

“I believe so,” the doctor said. “They’re stable, for now. But they’re both inhuman. I’ll have to monitor their progress.”

“For how long?” you asked.

“I…don’t know.”

You kept your eyes on the floor, hesitated, then nodded.

\--

You followed every trope in the book about worried lovers watching over their hospitalized object of affection. You hardly left the infirmary, barely ate or slept or showered except when Sam forcibly removed you from the room and started the shower for you or opened a box of cereal for you.

Val only took a few days to recover. When you practically cheered at the first sign of her waking from the coma she’d been in, she gave you hell about how she was a millennia-old warrior - older than Thor, even - and that of course the Big Bad wouldn’t have been able to take her out. If a handful of centuries in a constant drunken stupor hadn’t ravaged her, nothing would.

Still, you were glad to see her awake. It gave you hope…

Despite being a Literal God, Thor needed surgery. No one was sure how it would go or how his body would react, but apparently, even Gods couldn’t just let time heal internal bleeding. Or whatever it was that was wrong - you barely listened after you heard the word “surgery.”

When they took him out of the room, still unconscious and unaware of how distraught you were, you broke down. You couldn’t keep yourself together anymore. It’d been days since they’d returned, and everything hurt.

Sam sat with you in the room Thor and Val had been in since returning while you waited for the doctor to return with news. You sat on uncomfortable chairs, you with your legs up to hide your face, Sam splayed out to find some level of relaxation.

“You should get some sleep,” he said, nodding to the empty bed Val had once occupied.

You shook your head. “Can’t,” you said.

He sighed, sat up a bit, and reached for your arm. You didn’t move.

“Hey,” he said. “He’s gonna be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “You saw what dude looked like when he got here, right? I mean, when he first got here.”

You thought about it. So many months ago, Thor had shown up. All of his Avenger buddies had yelled about his hair, his scars, and his eye. He’d laughed them all off like losing so much of his former identity was nothing.

So you nodded.

“If he can come back from all the shit he’s seen,” Sam said, “he can come back from this, too.”

“I don’t understand what happened,” you said.

Sam shrugged. “What always happens,” he said. “He got cocky. It wasn’t as bad as Thanos, so he thought he could take it head-on with just Val for backup.”

“But…what _was_ it?” you asked, finally peeking at him.

He dropped his arm. “It’s hard to explain,” he said. “Definitely not from here, for sure. Big. Huge. I didn’t understand a word of what it said, but I think he did. And Dr. Strange for some reason.”

You’d forgotten all about Stephen Strange, not that he’d ever particularly stood out to you before. You had nothing to say to that end, so you curled back up and took a shaky breath.

“Sammy,” you said, knowing he wasn’t particularly fond of the nickname. You only ever used it when you had to. “I can’t lose him.”

“We’re not gonna lose him,” he said.

You hoped he was right. You weren’t sure you could forgive him for that lie, should it turn out to be so. “I think I love him,” you said without thinking. But once you said it, it felt right. It felt like waves at the beach, just a part of nature. “And I never told him. What if I never get to tell him?”

“Don’t play that game, (Y/N),” he said. “You’ll get your chance.”

For the second time, you hoped was right, more for his own sake than yours. Sam was your friend and you were grateful for him, but if he was wrong…you weren’t sure what would happen. You didn’t like that. Not knowing. It was too much to deal with.

\--

The surgeon assured you that everything had gone well, but Thor was still unconscious when they brought him back to the room. No doctor would give you an answer whenever you asked when he would wake up. “Soon, hopefully,” they kept saying.

It wasn’t good enough.

You cursed Tony Stark and James Rhodes, but more the former than the latter. It was Tony that’d recruited you. You could’ve been an X-Men. You should’ve been, by your own accounts. But when it came down to it, you associated Tony with meeting Thor, which meant you associated him with caring about Thor so much that you couldn’t see anything except what was right in front of you: his unconscious body, barely holding on to life.

If only Tony and Rhodey had finished the gloves. If only you’d been able to go out to the Big Bad with them. Maybe you could’ve saved him. You could’ve done more than sit around the compound and watch Pepper Potts deteriorate at the same pace as you.

Sam kept telling you that would’ve only ended worse than it had. You weren’t battle-hardened. You didn’t even train for a fight. No one knew the full extent of your ability, even though you were sure it wasn’t much more than a show-y trick, like a magician in a casino or something. So maybe he was right; maybe Tony and Rhodey had saved you by not finishing the gloves, but you weren’t sure that was better than watching Thor decay slowly on a hospital bed.

Thor wouldn’t think it was. Val made sure you knew that.

“He’d do anything to keep you safe,” she said almost a week and a half after the Big Bad. At least you thought it was that long. It was hard to keep track of time when you barely moved.

“He said he believed in my ability,” you mumbled.

She hunched over to get your attention. “He did. Does. But he would’ve been a fool to think you were ready. You too, honestly.” She nodded at the bed. “Maybe he forgot, but he’s a king now. He’s got a whole planets’ worth of people to think about. So of course he wanted to keep you safe, even if it meant keeping you here.”

Some part of you was grateful to have Val around. That part of you listened to what she said, understood what she meant, and agreed. But it was a smaller part than the impulsive, emotional part that was at the forefront of your mind.

“But if I’d done something, he’d be better-”

She stopped you there. “No. If you’d done something, you’d be there,” she said, nodding to the bed again. She sat up, sighed, and popped her lips. “Did I tell you how I became the last Valkyrie?”

You thought for a moment, then shook your head.

“Right,” she said. “You owe me a full flight for this.” She cleared her throat, looked at the floor, then went on. “Thor’s got…well, had an older sister. Hela. A walking terror. I mean she was literally the goddess of death and destruction, so that tells you something.” She shrugged, and you watched her carefully. “About a year ago, Hela was released from her imprisonment. It’s a long story,” she said when she looked at you. “In any case, she got to take over Asgard because, as luck would have it, I was busy capturing Thor on an actual garbage planet. I was in a low place, too, but he recognized me pretty easily. I should’ve listened to him sooner. We could’ve saved a lot more people than we did.”

She paused, looking at the floor again, and you turned in your seat to face her. Suddenly, Val had your undivided attention. “Tell me more,” you said.

She glanced at you with her mouth open, then nodded. “Well, I’d met Hela before. In battle. She was the cause of my low point, I guess. See, a millennia ago, she turned on her father. Odin wanted to bring light and peace to the universe, and she wanted to wreak havoc.” She shrugged. “Odin called on the Valkyries to protect Asgard from Hela. And she slaughtered us.”

Your eyes widened. “You’re the last one,” you whispered before you could stop yourself. “Oh my god, Val, I’m so sor-”

She put a hand up. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry. Just know that…there is nothing more you could’ve done, just like there was nothing I could’ve done. We’ve both put forth what we could.”

You sighed. “But I didn’t actually do anything.”

She smirked at you, a weak smirk compared to her others, but it was there nonetheless. “You’ve done more than you know, (Y/N).”

You felt like people kept saying that, but you never knew what it meant. Your mind raced with possibilities. Had you somehow overpowered Thor’s memories of Jane the Genius? You really hated that you still thought about her, because he hadn’t even really talked about her. Because talking about your ex was probably a weird thing to do, you realized. You sighed, curled into yourself again, and hoped Val believed you were just doubting yourself some more.

\--

You were asleep in your own bed when he woke up. Sam came to get you, practically dragging you across the compound in your pajamas. It took a few minutes for the news to register in your mind, and then you were wide awake and nearly running ahead of Sam.

You slammed into the doorway to his room too quickly. Thankfully, Val was already there. She caught you by the arms, almost like she was expecting you to skid into the threshold. She let go of you when you were steady, and then you got a look at Thor.

He was sitting in bed, smiling like an idiot, eating a spoonful of applesauce with the cup in one hand and the spoon in the other. “(Y/N)!” he said, his full spoon hovering over his midsection. “You’re here!”

You stared at him, because it was all you could do.

“I’ve been trying to get you outta bed for a half hour,” Sam said from behind you. “I had to get Tony to unlock your door.”

You looked over your shoulder at him. “Dude!” you yell-whispered.

He shrugged. “You would’ve killed me if I hadn’t,” he said, and you knew he was right.

Val let you go, and you went over to the side of the bed. Under other circumstances, you probably would’ve kissed him. But that didn’t seem fair. He didn’t even look at you; he just ate his applesauce like a happy child. Clearly he was on some kind of medication, probably for pain. So you sighed and settled for a hug, which he didn’t really notice at first. When he did, he smiled and said, “Thanks.”

You stepped back and nodded, resisting the urge to touch his face. That also didn’t seem fair. “I’m just glad you’re feeling better,” you said.

He smiled with applesauce dripping from the corner of his mouth. You rolled your eyes.

You stayed around all that day. He took a nap, and when he woke up, he grunted more often than not. Various members of the team came and went throughout the day, so you had few opportunities to talk to him alone.

You’d just come back from getting some dinner to find him alone, for once, so you settled into the chair closest to his bed and rested your chin on your palm. “You scared the living shit out of me, just so you know,” you said.

He chuckled, then grunted as his face scrunched. “Don’t make me laugh, please,” he whined.

You rolled your eyes, but never let the smile fade from your face. When his expression softened, you shifted so your legs were bent under you. “Next time, don’t try to show off, okay?”

He nodded.

“You know, for a god, you took an awfully long time to recover from hard physical battle,” you said.

More nodding. “Sorry about that. I am my own hubris, I suppose.”

“I’m surprised you even know what hubris is,” you said with a wiggle of your eyebrows. You laughed at yourself then, and watched as he tried to chuckle without putting too much stress on his body. You couldn’t describe how much lighter you felt, having him back and laughing at his expense again. It was almost like nothing else mattered at all.

But of course, something else did matter. You just weren’t sure how to deal with those things.

“I’m sorry,” he said, cutting through your thoughts.

“For?” you asked.

“Worrying you.” He gave a small shrug. “Val told me you didn’t leave that chair. So thank you, too.”

“She told me about your sister,” you said.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course she did.”

“Your father sounds like he was…interesting, too.”

“My family is what Midgardians might call ‘weird.’” He put his head back against the pillows and let out a sigh.

You put your feet down, grabbed onto the arms of the chair, and pulled it forward until your knees were up against the bed. Then you leaned forward and put your elbows on the stiff mattress and your chin between your palms. “I wanna know it all.”

“Really?” he asked, looking at you with just his eyes. He kept his neck as still as possible.

You nodded. “I haven’t heard you tell me things about space and…whatever, family soap operas or something in almost two weeks.”’

He looked at you silently, and all you could think was that you’d missed this. You’d been so worried about things you hadn’t taken the time to fully understand that you’d missed out on just being around with him. And then the Big Bad had happened, and suddenly, you didn’t know if you’d ever get back to easy, meaningful conversation again. You knew, as he told you all about his family, that you’d take this over nothing at all. Even if he was in love with Jane the Genius until the end of your days, you’d rather be his friend than the jealous, creepy stalker that ruined everything over nothing.


	4. Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is not your friend, but maybe that’s okay. Thor is. You’re both always late, anyway - but you know what they say…
> 
> _Better late than never._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted @ occasionalfics.tumblr.com in January 2018

Things went back to normal soon after the surgeon released Thor from the infirmary. From then on out, his recovery was as swift as you could imagine for a mostly immortal being.

Tony and Rhodey finished the gloves. “For next time,” Tony said, but suddenly you weren’t so sure you were ready for that. Who knew, though? Maybe you would be, when it came.

You started using the gloves in the pool immediately, first figuring out what they did, exactly, and then moving into expanding your ability. From what you understood of Rhodey’s explanation of their function, they enhanced the waves which your hands produced when you focused hard enough. The gloves, then, let you not only create bigger things with the water that was readily available, but they also gave the water more shape and weight. Somehow. You weren’t sure about the logistics, you just did as they instructed.

You stood on the edge of the pool, looking at the spot in which Thor was standing. He was abs deep in the middle of the water, smiling back at you like it was any other day. Maybe it was - like, maybe this was normal now, you thought. You put your hands out and focused on moving the water, rather than lifting it. Why you hadn’t thought of that before, you couldn’t say, but it didn’t matter. Maybe you wouldn’t have been able to do this before anyway.

You breathed out and pushed forward. The water around Thor acted accordingly, moving slowly away from his body in the middle of the pool. It moved in ripples, being forced in all directions, and spilled up and over the edge of the pool. You ignored the water that lapped at your toes, pushed harder, and forced yourself to breathe. In seconds, Thor was standing in a perfect dry circle, the water around him flowing up like the Dead Sea.

He cheered you on as you slowly pulled your hands back. The water that remained in the pool flowed back into place, slapping his sides gently, as you took care not to hurt him. Even if he was almost completely recovered from the Big Bad, you didn’t want to exacerbate any seemingly invisible problem.

“That was amazing!” he said, coming to the edge of the pool. “You’re doing well.”

You hoped you weren’t blushing, but you couldn’t hold back a smile. “It’s not much, but it’s something.”

He nodded. “Something. You’re getting somewhere.” He stood there, smiling up at you like you were the only light source in the room, silently waiting for something. But you didn’t know what.

You waited and waited for him to say or do anything. When minutes seemed to past with nothing between you - just staring, as if that was a totally normal thing for two totally platonic friends to do - you cleared your throat and decided to sit on the edge of the pool. And that was fine, until he took another step toward you so that your knees were barely grazing his toned midsection.

“Feel any less like you want to run off to that school for mutants?” he asked.

You shrugged. “Sometimes.” You lifted your hands, to show him the gloves up close. “At least someone had to make these, you know? The fact that they’re not just a part of a genetic mutation helps.” When you lowered your hands, you put one out behind you to lean on. “Also, you forgot to mention months ago that your hammer wasn’t a part of some genetic mutation of yours. So maybe you’re a god with inherently imbued magical powers, but you also needed a tool from an outside source to be a hero.” You smirked at him and somewhat intentionally bent your knee further into his side.

“You remember that conversation that well?” he asked.

You shrugged once more. “Only well enough to use it against you.”

He shook his head, and then silence prevailed again. It was an easy silence, but not a silence between friends. It was a silence between two people with too much to say, a silence that was accompanied by a look of compassion and desire. It was a silence shared by people that would deny it had ever happened if they were caught.

Then you had a thought. You hated the thought, because of what it meant. If you acted on the thought, it meant you weren’t moving past being jealous. It meant you weren’t just his friend, or at least you didn’t want to be just his friend. If you asked this one question running through your mind, you might ruin this somewhat tense but mostly emotionally charged moment. But you had to know.

“I don’t mean to beat a dead horse,” you said, “but…how is Jane Foster?”

He furrowed his brow, and suddenly you heard how the question sounded outside of your own head.

“That’s not what I mean,” you said. “I just… I promise I don’t think she’s a dead horse.”

He laughed. Of course he did. He always seemed to know when to laugh to make you know he understood what you were saying. His laughter never felt condescending, but genuine, like he really thought everything was funny. It also made you want to lean forward and kiss him, to shut him up in your own way.

But you didn’t. The moment was fleeting, and you let it pass. You wanted an answer to your question, after all.

He bit his lip, which you found unfairly sexy, then nodded. “Jane Foster is happy, last I heard. Her former assistant, Darcy Lewis, sends me messages every day.” He shook his head again. “She’s…enthusiastic is a good word. But from what Darcy tells me, Jane is busy both being an astrophysicist and starting a family.”

“Oh,” you said, because it was all you could say. All that worrying, and you’d never stopped to consider that, just maybe, Jane Foster had a life of her own without Thor involved. Of course she did. It had to have been at least two years since they’d seen one another. At least.

“May I inquire as to why you’re asking about Jane?” he asked.

You wanted to deny him, to tell him that you didn’t have an answer or that you couldn’t give the answer you did have to him. But you couldn’t do that. It was cruel. It…wasn’t what you wanted to do to Thor, of all people. You hadn’t lied to him so far, and you didn’t want to start now, when it seemed like the one real obstacle between you was no longer - or, really, had never been - in the way.

“I’m nosy,” you said. “And I’m sorry.” You bit your lip because, instead of lying, you were intentionally keeping information from him (that was what you’d tell yourself later, anyway). If you’d had less control of your arms, you would’ve slapped yourself.

He stared at you through slitted eyes for a moment, and you knew he didn’t buy your answer. But what else could you say, really? _Yes see I’m desperate for you to kiss me but I wanted to make sure your ex was out of the picture first even though I know she shouldn’t matter because, after all that’s happened, what should matter is just us?_

No, you didn’t think that would look kindly on you.

\--

Tony had, apparently, built a basement ballroom below one of the fields around the complex specifically for underground parties. That’s what he said, anyway. Tony had put it upon Pepper to plan a kind of celebratory “The Big Bad is over, let’s get drunk” party. Even though you hadn’t been able to fight the Big Bad, you took the party as enough reason enough to order a new, tight, sparkly dress and matching heels.

You’d gotten dressed early so that you wouldn’t mess up your makeup later. The dress was gold, covered in sequins, and had a high neck and cutouts in the chest and back. And it fit you almost too well, if you said so yourself.

You were in the middle of curling your hair in your adjoined bathroom when someone knocked on your door. Thinking it was Val or Wanda or someone…feminine, you called for them to come into the room. Heavy footsteps followed, so you expected Sam. But you were wrong on both accounts.

“Wow,” you heard.

You dropped a ringlet when it was hot to the touch, then turned to see Thor standing in the space between your bed and your bathroom. You smiled at him, as you always did.

He was wearing a nicely tailored blue suit with vine detailing that scrolled all over. It looked hand-embroidered from where you were. Beneath his blazer, he had on a simple light gray shirt that contrasted with his metal eyepatch, and to pull it all together, he had on black dress shoes. “I might only have one eye, but even I can see how stunning you look, (Y/N),” he said, his jaw slack.

Your smile widened, and you placed your curling iron on the counter that ran the length of the small bathroom. “Nice suit,” you said. “Blue’s a good color for a lightning king, I guess.”

He shrugged and puffed his chest out, showing off as he turned around to show you the whole ensemble. You laughed with him, then went back to doing your hair. He took a seat on the edge of your bed. 

“On Asgard, we don’t bother with such finery for a celebration,” he said. “The wine flows through the streets, and no one cares what anyone else is wearing.”

“I thought Asgard was a people,” you said, raising your brows in jest.

He nodded. “I did tell you that, didn’t I?”

You gave an ‘mhm’ before you let the curl go, then watched as it settled. And then you saw, from the corner of your mirror, that Thor was no longer looking at you. His eyes were downcast, focused on the floor, though you’d cleaned up earlier and the floor was, in fact, spotless. You put the iron on the counter once more, then turned to face him. You’d finished the row of curls anyway, so the next one could wait.

“Do you miss it?” you asked, leaning your hip against the counter, crossing your arms.

He looked at you. “Miss what?”

“Asgard?” you asked with a shrug. “The parties? The people?”

“The people are still alive. Most of them, anyway.” There was suddenly a dark tone to his voice, which you didn’t like. But you watched silently as he focused past you for a moment, because he came back from it just as quickly. “As for the parties…every one of them involved my brother.” You weren’t sure if that was necessarily a good thing, but again, you let him continue. “And not a single one had you.”

Again, he seemed to look past you, but only fleetingly. You didn’t know what to do or say, so you watched instead. His mouth hung open, like he was thinking so hard about something, he couldn’t not look like a fish.

Then he stood up. It was quick…like lightning.

“Thor?” you asked.

He didn’t answer. Not with words. He stepped forward, then looked like might backtrack, but then shook his head. He took another step, then another, and then one more and suddenly he was standing directly in front of you. His face was angled down at you, and your heart was beating a million beats per minute.

“Asgard didn’t have _you,_ ” he said, searching your eyes for something.

You didn’t know what to do or say. In a flash, everything you’d felt since Thor had shown up came rushing into your neck and face. Your hands were shaking, because all they wanted was to reach out and run them through his hair. Your lips trembled because they’d wanted to be against his for so long, and now he was so close, closer than he ever had been.

“Of course,” he said. He started to lean forward, and when you didn’t pull back, he leaned further.

You gripped the lapel of his blazer, could feel the embroidery now, and pulled on the fabric. He obliged, slowly lowering until his open mouth was just centimeters from yours.

“Of course it was always you,” he said, and then he finally did it. After all the waiting and pining and confusion, after all the worry and tension, he finally kissed you. And damn, did he taste good. Like sandalwood, peppermint, and a hint of coffee. He smelled better, like…clouds and lavender. You weren’t aware clouds had a scent, but there it was. And beyond it all was the unmistakable scent of chlorinated pool water.

Your arms went around his neck as you stepped up onto your tiptoes. His arms went around your waist, his tongue into your mouth. You sighed and leaned against him.

When he pulled back, he put his forehead against yours and breathed heavily. “Wow,” he said, echoing what he’d said when he’d come in a few moments ago.

You smiled and brought your fingers to his beard. “You must’ve known all along,” you said, “that I’ve wanted you to kiss me like that.”

He laughed. “Would you believe me if I said I only just now realized how many times you were sending signals when I thought you were simply being friendlier than usual?”

“You know,” you said. “I would. You’re kinda thick headed.”

He rolled his eyes, but before you could respond to that, he kissed you again. You forgot what words were, instead choosing to communicate through noises. You moaned against his lips, pushed against him until he’d backed into the wall, then stepped onto the tops of his shoes to get closer to him. His arms tightened around you, just like you’d wished so many times before, and you felt weightless, like nothing could ruin this.

For a second, you waited for the ball to drop. But nothing came. Nothing except the growing bulge against your leg and a loud, guttural moan from Thor’s throat. You shivered and moved your lips down his jaw and back around. His hands curved around your backside, then lifted you by your thighs until you had your legs around his waist.

He wasted no time after that. Turning away from the wall, Thor slipped out of the bathroom with you attached to him. He turned again, letting the edge of your bed hit the back of his knees. He fell backwards, and you went down with him, smiling the whole time.

“I think we’re gonna miss that super important party Tony’s throwing,” you said, breathless and excited.

He shrugged. “I’d say this is a bit more important. Wouldn’t you?”

You kissed him in response. But then you pulled back - all the way back - and stood.

“What-“ he started to ask, but you shushed him and pulled the skirt of your dress down.

“I bought this to show off in front of you, so let me do it,” you said, flattening the sequins where they’d risen. When you were satisfied, you smiled at Thor, then turned in a full circle, going slowly so he could see it all.

“Like I said, wow.” He sat up, held his hand out, and waved you to him. “Now come back here.”

You stopped turning and took his hand in yours. Some part of you couldn’t believe it was finally happening, but it was, and you were reminded of such as he pulled you to him. You put your arms around his shoulders, leaning into him because he was finally letting you. He leaned up to meet your lips, but stopped suddenly.

“Wait. Is _this_ why you asked about Jane so much?” he asked.

You leaned back a bit, only to see that he was smirking at you.

“Were you… _jealous?_ ” he asked.

“Shut up,” you mumbled, looking away from him. But, like usual, you couldn’t stop smiling. Yeah, jealousy wasn’t cute, but at least now it was something you could laugh with him with. It wasn’t something he was angry about or ashamed of, which was evidenced by the heavy laugh against your cheek.

“May I ask you a question, then?” he asked. “You know, to make up for how _nosy_ you’ve been?”

You shook your head and placed yourself on his lap before you made eye contact with him again. “You may,” you said.

“When did you know?” he asked.

“Know what?”

His hand on your waist pushed gently against you, bringing you just a bit closer to him.

“Are you asking me when I knew that I _like liked_ you, Thor?” you asked, raising your eyebrows.

He shrugged. “If that’s how Midgardians phrase it, then yes.”

You bit your lip and tried to remember the first time. It was a hazy memory, from not long after Thor had come to the compound. You could feel your blush getting darker and hotter as you thought about it. “It was when we went to that club with Nat and Sam. When you were still downstairs meeting people-”

“Getting stopped, you mean,” he said.

You nodded. “Yeah. Sam said something about me, um, making a move.” You remembered cursing Sam’s name because he’d put the idea in your head, but now…now you were cursing yourself for not acting on it, like he’d suggested.

He stared off into the bathroom then, and his face went blank. You tried to follow his gaze, but there was nothing to look at, so you put a hand on his cheek and asked, “What is it?”

“You waited so long,” he said. “I remember that night. I carried you home. Yet…” He sighed and searched your eyes, but you didn’t know what for. “Why?”

You shrugged. “I dunno,” you said, moving your hand from his face down to his lapel. You looked at the embroidery while you said, “I mean, I still didn’t know what I was doing here then. I kept scaring myself because, like, one minute I’m a hermit on the beach, and the next I have friends, one of whom I have huge crush on and of course that one happens to be an ethereal God from some realm I’ll never get to see.”

“And then?” he asked.

You locked eyes with him again. “And then…then you were my best friend, and when I asked about Jane the first time, you couldn’t even finish a sentence about her. I kept telling myself that I had to pick - was I gonna ruin whatever we had because I wanted someone I thought was unavailable, or was I gonna play it safe?”

He nodded slowly, then quicker. He tilted his head and moved one of his hands to your knee. As it usually was, his skin was warm and alive, tingling slightly with electricity - or maybe you just imagined that. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it,” he said. “Things make…a lot more sense now, though.”

“When did you know, Thor?” you whispered.

He chuckled, and you swore you saw his neck turn pink, even through his beard. “I’m afraid my moment came much later. And I was in a _lot_ of very avoidable pain.”

You nodded, but otherwise waited for him to tell you.

“You made yourself comfortable next to me in the infirmary and told me you wanted to know all about my family. And then you just…sat and listened. And more than that…I wanted to tell you.” He stared at you like he couldn’t believe what he was saying, but his mouth spread into a smile again, reassuring you that it was a good thing.

“I can imagine thousands of years of Odin can be a bit much to share,” you said.

You laughed together. You put your forehead against his and hugged him tight, and he returned the gesture. When Thor kissed you again, you felt so much lighter than you ever had before. Lighter than floating in water, even.

You pulled away and dragged your fingers down his cheek gently. He shivered when you said, “Yeah, we’re definitely not going to the party.”


End file.
